Various forms of shielded or lead-lined panels for room enclosures and also methods of applying sheets of lead to wall structures are shown in the prior art. The Laepof U.S. Pat. No. 1,815,922 discloses a lead-lined board which presents a finished surface on one side and attaches to both at abutting edges over a thin strip of lead to form a continuous sheath at all junctures. Barry U.S. Pat. No. 1,780,108 discloses a method for applying conventional leadlined panels or gypsum board to existing walls through wooden studs or furring strips so that there is an overlapping lead seal at the joints. In the Ferre U.S. Pat. No. 2,894,463 there is to be found a disclosure of lead encased or sheathed metal fasteners for installing lead-lined panels to existing wall surfaces. Shoenfeld, in his U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,020 shows lead paneling for booths characterized by the use of various forms of lead-lined fastening channels made of steel.
The structures disclosed in the Laepof and Barry patents no doubt function properly for their intended purposes but have a number of distinct disadvantages including the fact that their wall structures cannot be pre-fabricated in-toto, they require separate supporting structures and the form of construction makes it possible to salvage the materials for reuse or modification. Ferre provides a fixed, inflexible structure similar to Barry and Laepof, designed only for attachment to the studding of a wall. Shoenfeld makes no provision for integral electrical connections and his walls are not structurally designed to support auxiliary equipment, nor are there any choices as to the finished surfaces to be used therewith. Other prior art devices of this general nature show structurally unrelated shielding methods employing permanently installed lead-lined panels for existing wall or stud framing.